CONTROLS Synonyms: 196 Similar and Opposite Words

controls 1 of 2

noun

Definition of controls next

plural of control

as in controllers

a mechanism for adjusting the operation of a device, machine, or system the controls for the player are well marked

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as in hands

the ability to direct the course of something after the tail fell off, the plane went out of the pilot's control firefighters keeping control of the blaze

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as in operations

the act or activity of looking after and making decisions about something control of manufacturing operations was given to a new manager with fresh ideas

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as in powers

the right or means to command or control others teachers are responsible for the students under their control

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controls

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of control

as in regulates

to keep from exceeding a desirable degree or level (as of expression) you must learn to control your temper

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as in contains

to gain emotional or mental control of he controlled himself only with the greatest difficulty in the face of his opponent's insulting remarks

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as in rules

to exercise authority or power over circumstances often control the choices we make in life

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as in operates

to look after and make decisions about during the period that she controlled the company it was highly profitable

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of controls

Noun

The United States has already demonstrated this with export controls on advanced chips, restricting which nations can develop certain AI capabilities. —

David Liberman, Fortune, 16 May 2026 In most cases, similar to engine controls, this climate control system can be checked for codes and the various modes manipulated with a scan tool. —

John Paul Senior Manager Public Affairs and Traffic Safety Aaa Northeast, Hartford Courant, 16 May 2026 ChatGPT Enterprise offers enhanced privacy protections, larger context windows, and administrative controls appropriate for law firms and legal departments handling confidential client information. —

Allbusiness, Forbes.com, 16 May 2026 The chassis has also been redesigned around new electronic controls. —

Bojan Stojkovski, Interesting Engineering, 16 May 2026 These included shelf registration, relaxed international capital controls, eased restrictions on bank deposits, the rise of index and money market funds, lax oversight of corporate mergers and takeovers, and the creation of banking free-trade zones. —

Literary Hub, 15 May 2026 But in the four years between the two terms, Xi had taken pains to ensure this tactic would no longer work, with export controls on rare earth metals that are indispensable to American arms manufacturers and carmakers. —

Rob Crilly, The Washington Examiner, 15 May 2026 The government has methodically tightened internet censorship and established increasingly stringent controls over online activities, causing rumblings and rare public expressions of discontent. —

ABC News, 9 May 2026 From there, Bennett enrolled as a student at Gateway Community College to study HVAC, controls and security, ABC 15 reported. —

Lexi Lane, PEOPLE, 9 May 2026

Verb

Beijing controls the supply chain for many obscure minerals that are critical components of smartphones, cars and weapons. —

Evelyn Cheng, CNBC, 18 May 2026 One of these groups, the M23 Movement, controls parts of neighboring North Kivu Province. —

Zachary Folk, Forbes.com, 17 May 2026 Through Vivendi, Bolloré already controls the Canal+ channel and its subsidiaries, including StudioCanal, Europe’s number one film production company. —

Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 17 May 2026 The United States controls approximately 75% of global high-performance AI compute capacity. —

David Liberman, Fortune, 16 May 2026 The new exciton-polariton platform avoided part of that problem by enabling all-optical switching, where one light signal directly controls another without converting anything into electricity. —

Rupendra Brahambhatt, Interesting Engineering, 16 May 2026 But that’s not how mob boss Semion Bogoyavich (Victor Ptak), who controls a vast criminal network, operates. —

David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 16 May 2026 Expected among those reforms will be changes at the National Film Institute (NFI), the powerful body that controls film financing in the country, and whose politicization under the Orbán regime was blamed by many Hungarian filmmakers for stifling critical voices. —

Christopher Vourlias, Variety, 15 May 2026 Russian advances have slowed this year, though Moscow controls just under one fifth of Ukrainian territory. —

Reuters, NBC news, 10 May 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for controls

Noun

According to air traffic communications, the crew informed controllers that they had been forced to stop on the runway after the collision and confirmed that there were 231 people on board.

— Bojan Stojkovski, Interesting Engineering, 10 May 2026
The pilot told controllers there were 231 people and more than 21,000 pounds of fuel on board, according to the audio clip.

— Karina Tsui, CNN Money, 9 May 2026